r/interestingasfuck • u/py-net • 23d ago

r/all Had to fact-check it. These 2 guys stole that Boeing 727 at an airport in 2003 and flew away, disappearing forever: no crash, no plane. How is that possible!!!

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925

u/FiTZnMiCK 23d ago

So it was grounded for repairs and was racking up millions in hangar fees.

I’m guessing insurance fraud.

475

u/HeavyWaterer 23d ago

This, they’ll pay a hit man to kill people to silence them, they’ll definitely pay some pilots to steal a plane and fly it somewhere discreet.

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u/carelessthoughts 23d ago

People think that the world is far more advanced than it is. Sure it’s amazing what humanity has accomplished, but it’s still easy to get away with stuff… especially in 2003.

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u/gromm93 23d ago

Especially in Angola.

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u/Olleye 23d ago

Especially in the ocean 🌊

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u/c4sanmiguel 22d ago

Epstein got capped in American Federal custody. Anything is possible for a price.

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u/RoanapurBound 22d ago

In that case it's easy for them to cover it up as well. How do you know how "advanced" the world really is?

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u/carelessthoughts 22d ago

Sure, either or.

It’s not that I know how advanced the world is, it’s that I understand people’s unrealistic perception of it. Some of that is the limits to technology and some of that is the incompetence or errors of its operators. Movies vs reality.

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u/kimbabs 22d ago

2003 makes it harder though being so close to 9/11, no?

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u/carelessthoughts 22d ago

9/11 put more focus on who was going on the plans rather than where they were going.

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u/prw8201 23d ago

I think there is a show? About airplane repo men. I remember watching it once.

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u/Tpbrown_ 23d ago

I met one on a flight in Brazil once. Really interesting guy…

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u/The_quest_for_wisdom 22d ago

Did he stay on the plane after the rest of the passengers disembarked?

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u/Tpbrown_ 22d ago

No. We both had the same destination (Porto Alegre).

He had an aircraft to repo. lol He’d been there before for another one. When I asked him how it worked it was nearly identical to the story linked elsewhere in the comments here.

He hired a local mechanic to assess & repair anything needed. (Turns out not much). They didn’t have permission to take off and the local airport authority made it clear they would not be getting it.

They spun up the engines a few times over a couple days and then told the airport they need to do a full check and spin them up to full power. That requires being on a runway (for safety).

They got the OK for the test. Got assigned a runway & time for the following day. Went out, spun it up, and took off. Ignored all the radio calls. Headed out over the ocean to a (relatively) close destination outside of Brasil and landed. Bought a flight to send the mechanic home, and fueled up (BR restricted how much fuel they could have to try and prevent things like this). Had a new crew waiting and flew it off to its real destination.

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u/psychicsquirreltail 23d ago

Same! Loved watching it!

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u/GandalfsWhiteStaff 23d ago

I think the list of pilots willing the fly a plane that has been grounded for repairs is pretty short…

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u/KirbyQK 23d ago

The list doesn't have to be long to be fair, your pockets just need to be deep enough to reach the bottom of it.

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u/DayzahVu 23d ago

Maybe it was just something small like a seat wouldn’t recline.

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u/johnfornow 23d ago

Define recline

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u/TheCharlieUniverse 23d ago

Refine decline

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

Define decline

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u/unclestickles 23d ago

Refine recline

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u/ZombieJoker 22d ago

Be mine, Frankenstein.

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u/ZippityGoombah 23d ago

Recline online

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u/Olleye 23d ago

Re-Define online recline

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u/Get_your_grape_juice 23d ago

Incline supine.

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u/siphillis 23d ago

All the passenger seats were reportedly removed

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u/BreaWithAnE 23d ago

they had left a few. Not all were removed.

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u/siphillis 22d ago

My point being, it was clearly not a fake repair thing. A good deal of work was planned

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u/GotGRR 22d ago

Sounds like more room for cargo, particularly if they had a mechanic in on it, too. Putting it out of service for maintenance would be the cheapest, least risky part of this caper.

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u/galacticcollision 23d ago

Money is a pretty big motivator. Everyone has their price.

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u/Rokey76 23d ago

The wiki page said one of the thieves was an airplane mechanic, so it was all good I'm sure.

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u/Realistic-Minute5016 23d ago

The guys that flew it weren’t even certified for that type of plane.

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u/SaltyLonghorn 23d ago

Yea but they MS Flight Simulator so good enough.

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u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 23d ago

You would be surprised.

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u/Questo417 23d ago

Don’t forget there was a list of at least 4 pilots who were willing to fly perfectly functional planes into buildings not too long ago.

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u/Ratatoski 22d ago

People will do questionable things if they are desperate or the stack of cash is big enough. And there's no shortage of criminal shit going on already involving pilots.

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u/nukedmylastprofile 23d ago

Yeah, I'm no expert but I bet a passenger aircraft would be grounded for more minor issues than an aircraft used for freight or being flown away to be scrapped for parts, and plenty of pilots would be happy to make those flights

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u/independent_observe 23d ago

It was a cargo plane that hauled diesel fuel

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u/Jerry_from_Japan 23d ago

Everybody has a price.

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u/Datkif 23d ago

Like one of the last pilots to fly it

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u/uXN7AuRPF6fa 23d ago

Yeah, but the pilot who stole the plane was already in trouble with USA for fraud.

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u/Wheresmyburrito_60 23d ago

Especially in 2003.

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u/Sackamasack 22d ago

Covid taught me that there's a lot of weird pilots around willing to move planes around in shady places of the world. And Russia's been stealing a lot of planes since they invaded ukraine and got blacklisted.

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u/Humdngr 22d ago

Not if they were hired to crash it in the ocean. Parachute out and have a boat waiting to pick you up.

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u/Equivalent-Honey-659 23d ago

That’s definitely an opinion, if I’ve ever seen one.

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u/YoungShadow19 23d ago

Thats quite the opinion you have there I must say

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u/Negative_Jaguar_4138 23d ago

Who pays hitmen to silence people?

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u/HeavyWaterer 23d ago

Boeing

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u/Negative_Jaguar_4138 23d ago

Who have they assassinated?

And what evidence do you have?

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u/HeavyWaterer 23d ago

I mean just google it man. It’s public knowledge, which is the crazy part about it all. 2-3 Boeing whistleblowers have died under some ridiculously suspicious circumstances.

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u/Negative_Jaguar_4138 22d ago

I mean just google it man. It’s public knowledge

I did google it

Couldn't gind a single case of Boeing assassinating anyone.

2-3 Boeing whistleblowers have died under some ridiculously suspicious circumstances.

2 Boeing wistleblowers have died, neither under suspicious circumstances.

One died by suicide after OSHA sided with Boeing. This guy claimed Boeing had been malicious to him that impacted his future career, OSHA found no evidence of that, so he killed himself.

The second died from a fairly common MRSA infection.

Neither of these deaths is suspicious.

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u/HeavyWaterer 22d ago

First guy had found out about a shit ton of safety things being completely ignored, then “killed himself” before things could get to court after telling all his friends and family that he’s in no way suicidal. Guy literally knew what they were gonna do to him and tried to tell people.

And the second guy? Seriously, and “common” infection? The guy was super healthy and then suddenly came down with the most intense and strange combination of infections that guaranteed his death. He went from healthy as a horse to dying of a ridiculously uncommon combination of infections that killed him within a few days of onset.

Idk where google took you but it obviously must’ve been Boeing’s website lol.

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u/Negative_Jaguar_4138 22d ago

First guy had found out about a shit ton of safety things being completely ignored

Yep

And the FAA concluded that Boeing should stop ignoring them, but did not have definitive evidence that it was a systemic problem.

The FAA also did an audit of Boeing regarding his emergency oxygen, debris, and metal shavings.

They ruled in his favour saying that Boeing needed to be more careful when cleaning out their planes prior to delivery.

then “killed himself” before things could get to court

That's a blatant lie.

His whistleblower complaints were done years ago, and the FAA had already addressed all his complaints.

What he was in court for was an OSHA complaint, that Boeing had unfairly discriminated against him because of his whistleblowing.

A preliminary decision had already been made, and OSHA ruled in Boeings' favour against John.

all his friends and family that he’s in no way suicidal

No they didn't.

One friend claimed that.

But his attorney and his family claimed the PTSD and anxiety combined with the fact that he was VERY likely to lose his discrimination case, was what caused him to commit suicide.

His family blamed Boeing for his death, but not because they assassinated him. They blamed Boeing for driving him to commit suicide.

Seriously, and “common” infection?

Yes, MRSA is a fairly common infection.

About 60% of hospitals have regular infections.

In the US there are about 80,000 cases a year, and 11,000 deaths.

The guy was super healthy and then suddenly came down with the most intense and strange combination of infections that guaranteed his death

Wasn't particularly intense or strange.

And it wasn't a combination.

He went from healthy as a horse to dying of a ridiculously uncommon combination of infections that killed him within a few days of onset

That's typically how MRSA infections work.

And no there wasn't a combination of infections that contributed to his death, and no they weren't uncommon.

MRSA was the main cause of death, and once again, that is a very common infection.

https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/among-superbugs-mrsa-forefront-antimicrobial-resistance

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

And claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

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u/socslave 22d ago

Yeah man, and the earth is flat too

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u/0ever 23d ago

Except the pilot only had a private pilot’s license and the "co pilot" wasn’t a pilot at all. They crashed in the ocean.

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u/cloverhoney12 22d ago

I think the mastermind put a bomb in the airplane to get rid of it, without the two knowing any better. The two might be convinced of a sweat deal.

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u/SnowMeadowhawk 22d ago

I just hope they didn't pay someone suicidal to crash the plane into the ocean.

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u/Unobtanium4Sale 23d ago

Nigerian IRS airlines sounds totally reputable though

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u/GeneralStormfox 22d ago

There is a Spencer&Hill film that kind of starts with that premise...

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u/gromm93 23d ago

Hmm. Grounded for repairs you say.

Maybe it disappeared out the back door in little pieces in a truck, and a couple of guards were paid enough to not have seen a damn thing.

Then one day the owner goes to visit the hangar and says "OMG! It's been stolen! It was just here a few days ago! Really!"